My life isn’t counted in years, it’s counted in chapters. Pages turn, things change and life goes on. Much like I write books, life is written page-by-page, word-by-word.

College is the current chapter that is seeing its end. Unlike many periods of my life though, this one is a little harder to say good-bye to. I was glad to leave high school behind. I don’t miss the small town, watching the water tower disappear into the sunset.

Silhouettes are only shadows of the past you leave behind, after all.

This one is a shadow of a different colour. Instead of looking back with resentment and some hurt, I feel almost like I’m leaving my second home. After many late nights sitting in the Endeavour, the faces that become familiar throughout the college, and the classmates that become like family, it’s going to be weird to leave this place.

I didn’t think it was going to be like this. There was a point last year where I almost left. It wasn’t until someone showed some faith in me that somehow I got through it. I know I’m not the only one who’s been there.

I’ve always said that with all the dreams waiting patiently in my back pocket to be found, it’s odd that something has kept me in Lethbridge. But it’s been this place, this experience, these people; this chapter.

People at this college have changed my life. From the instructors, to my classmates, to the best friends I’ve made and the things I’ve learned. I’ve been pushed to my limit and I’ve exceeded that limit.

And my friends? Well, there is so much to say that can’t be put into one blog. Words don’t say what they mean to me. I never knew such acceptance until I met these crazies. All I can say is that I wish them the best. They’ll all be successful in whatever it is they do.

As for my instructors over the past two years, all there is to say is thanks. I’ve never seen such dedication to students and their futures as I have seen at Lethbridge College. I’ll take what they’ve taught everywhere I go and in everything I do.

I said I wouldn’t cry when this time came, when all was said and done and the book began to close. But there are some tears in writing this. I never really felt that I had a hometown or like I belonged anywhere.

This place, this college, and these amazing people that have surrounded me for two years…nothing has ever been closer to a home town for me than this.